Ares Intempium
This page is about the current Necrolord of Immortues. For the unrelated family created by Hobie Wan, see The Ares Family. Ares Intempium 'is the current Necrolord, as far as he is concerned. He has taken this title since the downfall of the previous necrolord and his former master Fer'Ireth. Not much is known about him since he prefers to stay out of the limelights, conducting most of his operations from the shadows. Even though he is a skilled necromancer, he prefers to do critical operations himself, together with groups of bribed and/or tricked adventurers. This way he has acquired many powerful relics, ancient spellbooks and other useful objects, such as blueprints for a Dwarven exosuit. Unlike his former friend Mephiles Sol, he does not desire to obtain godhood, since it attracts too much attention and voids any afterlife he may have. Furthermore, he is even worried about Mephiles's hunger for power, and sees him as a threat for Gielinor. He doesn't have a lot of followers, especially since he actively tries to stay as hidden as possible. The followers he has are decieved mercenaries and adventurers (Temporarily, as long as he has use for them, after which they never see him again.) and undead, mostly ghosts, skeletons and ankous. His main source of energy is the lifeforce of creatures. He has designed several objects of power to aid in the gathering and storage of lifeforce, the two most important ones being his Spear-Staff, which is able to drain it from living creatures when it wounds them, and the Obelisk, a massive structure in the middle of Ares's base which draws in the lifeforce of dying creatures in the general area of his base, and is capable of storing it. Timeline Life before resurrection Ares has not always been a powerful necromancer. Infact, he wasn't even a powerful mage before his resurrection. While born in a family of mages in Varrock as the twin brother of Mars Intempium, he was the one to be born without any magical skill or potential, thus dooming him to live in the shadow of his brother for the rest of his life. His brother and he worked together as much as they could, although his brother was always the leader, the strong one, the privileged one. He couldn't help but grow jealous of him. He felt useless. He got in trouble multiple times, usually for taking what was not his and not accepting someone's authority. The older he got, the bigger the trouble became. It became a bit of a hobby to lift people's pockets and to pick fights, defeating his opponents with agility and speed rather than strength. Later, while his brother was studying at the Wizard's Tower and worked at the Dig Site as an archeologist, his family wanted him to join the Varrockian Army, seeing as it was another way to serve the country. Ares, however, disliked open warfare, saying it was too risky and useless anyway. He didn't feel like fighting for some fat king on a throne. On top of that, he never felt too attached to the city, and couldn't care less if someone else took control of it. When his family, tired of his excuses, tried to force him into the military, he decided to flee the city, to Lumbridge. Without home or gold, he stole what he needed to survive, eventually becoming quite skilled at stealth, lockpicking and pickpocketting. This didn't go as unnoticed as he'd liked, however. The Thieves Guild, specifically, had noticed him and one day set up a meeting with him in a nobles house, luring him in with the promise of easy gold since the noble wasn't home. They tried to recruit him, and he accepted, knowing it meant more security and better jobs. For a few years, things went well for Ares. he became even more skilled in the art of thieving, gradually taking on bigger and bigger targets, starting with stores, and later even convoys and banks when possible. It couldn't last, however. As he became more skilled, he became more careless, thinking he was the best of the best. It all ended when he sprung a trap set by the Al Kharid guard in the basement of the Al Kharid bank. They had noticed the one thing Ares should've avoided at all costs: A pattern in the robberies. And thus they had hired a mage to place a paralysing trap in the basement. At the changing of the guard, they had arranged an incident on the street to delay the arrival of the new bank guard's arrival, which gave Ares the perfect opportunity to sneak in. As soon as he touched the lock, however, he was unable to move a muscle. The guards soon entered the basement, together with the mage who ahd set the trap, congratulating him and giving him his pay, taking it out of the vault right in front of Ares, as if to taunt him even more. Then they took him away. He spend a few nights in the cages, occasionall getting pelted with rotten tomatoes. The court case was quick and efficient, and the verdict was clear. Guilty of multiple robberies, break-ins, and several deaths while doing so. Punishment: the gallows. And there he died, honorless. They dumped his body in the desert, to be eaten by the animals. It is there that the followers of Necrolord Fer'Ireth found him. Second chance The next thing he knew was that he was lying on the ground, surrounded by several undead and one robed figure in front of him, with a disappointed-ish look on his face. He was supposed to be the perfect undead, almost impossible to distinguish from the living. Sadly, like his previous attempt with Mephiles Sol, he had failed again, and instead resurrected Ares as a spirit. However, the figure did notice two things. Firstly, this spirit was capable of shadow magic, an unintended side effect of the resurrection. Secondly, he noticed that Ares, even though he was undead, generated an extremely small amount of lifeforce. Not enough to sustain himself, but it was there. Thus, he decided to keep the spirit close, to see whether his experiment had more side effects or not. Ares would continue to serve under his new master, Fer'Ireth, both because he was grateful for his second chance and his newfound magical abilities, and because of the necromantic bond which made sure Ares recieved the necessary lifeforce to stay in this realm. Fer'Ireth monitored his growth closely, noticing that both his lifeforce generation and his magical ability increased over time. He theorised that, over time, Ares would continue to become more and more "alive" as his own lifeforce generation increased. In the end, he would be like the intended outcome of his experiment. Thus, he noted this experiment as partial result. It was also during these times that Fer'Ireth was active within the human kingdoms, sometimes even going as far as appearing in Falador itself. This ultimately led to his imprisonment within his own base by the Temple Knights. They slaughtered his undead and forced the remaining ones to hide, where most of them died of lack of lifeforce, as the necromantic bond was blocked by the seal the Temple Knights had used to keep Fer'Ireth inside. Fortunatly, thanks to a last ritual conducted by Fer'Ireth and because of his own increasing lifeforce, Ares was strong enough by then to be able to live without the bond. He was even able to take over Mephiles' bond with Fer, keeping him alive as well. This did require a constant supply of additional life force, which resulted in raids by "an unknown force" against goblin encampments. The return of Fer'Ireth and the recovery of his research While his master was imprisoned, Ares' lifeforce generation kept increasing. After several years, he was even able to sustain both himself and Mephiles. It was by then that Ares even didn't look ghostly anymore. Incredibly pale, like a vampyre, but solid. It wasn't enough yet to fool people into believing he was truly one of them, though. It was then that the two decided to go back to the sealed base, hoping the Temple Knights had left the base unguarded. And they had, except for a few traps, both magical and physical. It was here that, for the first time in ages, Ares used his thieving skills again to dismantle the traps. His everincreasing magical power took care of the magical traps, and the seal, freeing Fer'Ireth once again. The Necrolord wasted no time: he immediatly took Mephiles' bond again and rebound Ares. They moved all research and resources to an old, abandoned manor near Draynor. There, they were given a new task: to relocate whatever remains of research Fer'Ireth had hidden long ago, even before the fall of the Zarosian Empire. To collect the data, Fer gave Ares his tome, and made sure that only Ares could open it and edit it. This was done through a violent ice enchantment, which would spread ice over anyone who attempted to open it, freezing them to death. And so, Ares and Mephiles travelled around the world, going wherever Fer'Ireth wanted them to go, collecting the pages. While retrieving some research hidden near the Tower of Life, Ares seized the opportunity to freeze a layer of its water on the book, further enhancing its already potent powers. While retrieving some research kept in a secure dwarven vault, he also developed an intrest in dwarven technology, being impressed by the raw power and efficiency, even without the use of magic. When they left Keldagrim, he was the proud owner of several blueprints. After collecting the final data, hidden deep within Forinthry, Ares made sure to make an exact copy of the book by using a spell described in said book. He would then further change and enhance it, adding his own research and notes to it. Fer'Ireth and Ares would both continue with their research and Ares' training in magic and necromancy afterwards. Fer'Ireth aimed to complete his perfect resurrection spell, while Ares investigated the possibility of combining necromancy and usage of the shadow realm. And even then, Ares' lifeforce regeneration was still increasing. He was slowly getting a more healthy skin tone now, while the emptiness in eyes vanished. Firan'Ireth's betrayal It was several years later that Ares was contacted by Firan'Ireth, the brother of his master. He, too, was a powerful mage, even having survived as long as Fer'Ireth without any usage of necromancy. He explained that he and his brother Fer'Ireth had an argument long ago, but that he wanted to make it up now. As proof of his good will, he even had discovered the location of a special kind of crystal with extraordinairy magical properties, a crystal Fer'Ireth needed for his research. The only problem was getting there. Together with Mephiles and Firan, Ares travelled to the cave where the crystal could be found, only to be betrayed when they reached it. Firan grabbed a few of the crystals and immediatly teleported away, leaving the duo behind. Later, he tried to convert Ares to his cause, which ultimately failed, much to Firan's anger. Ares and Mephiles proceeded to Firan's base in Morytania, battling and defeating him there, partially thanks to a Dwarven cannon Ares had created based on the blueprints he had taken from Keldagrim. His corpse was destroyed to prevent a comeback later. The master's disappearance Five years of training and research later, Fer'Ireth vanished once again, and this time Ares and Mephiles had no idea what happend. He had send them away to recover an artefact (Which didn't even exist, they found out.) and when they returned, he was gone, along with his personal artefacts of power. Mephiles knew he was alive, however, as the bond between him and his master was still there. It was only a week later, when the bond was suddenly but forcefully blocked, that the duo knew something was terribly wrong. Mephiles Sol's madness With the bond blocked by an unknown force, Ares was unable to take control of it. This resulted in the rapid decay of his friend. As a last resort, he was brought to the tower of life. The Well of Life there could keep Mephiles alive while Ares went to search for his master. He checked the tower every now and then, to see how his friend was doing, but he noticed that the absense of the bond, lifeforce and probably company was taking a toll on his friend. It appeared that, instead of preserving it like the bond did, the well was constantly regerating his rotting body. It was only when he visited after a very long time, after following a false lead and encountering a lot of problems along the way, that he truly noticed how Mephiles had changed. The feelings of being lost had changed into feelings of betrayal. It seemed like he wanted vengeance. Ares tried to convince Mephiles that Fer probably had a good reason to leave us. That he probably knew he'd somehow lose the bond. That this was their only chance at survival. Mephiles responded violently. After a long battle, during which Ares tried to take control of the blocked bond once again and during which Mephiles revealed the mock-up necromancy called "Necroviles", Ares left a physically and mentally exhausted Mephiles, stating he was sad it had come to this, but that his loyalty still lies with his former master. What he didn't know, was that Mephiles would be saved by using the divine energies released by Guthix's death afterwards. Resurrecting a necromancer Meanwhile, a mage named Sihrus Sicarius had somehow retrieved Fer'Ireth's original Tome, and had somehow managed to breach the magical security, allowing him to access the knowledge within. He used this to quickly gain influence within the family, becoming the most powerful mage of the Sicarius. He also learned of the other artefacts Fer had created, the Necklace, the Cloak and the Staff. Together, these three would grant the user incredible power, but when not used together, they'd drive their user mad. After establishing contact with Ares, now fully resurrected thanks to the experiment so many years ago, he organised an expedition of several adventurers, including a few Sicarius, to Karamja. It was there that he, somehow, had located one of the missing artefacts: The Necklace. A man who had been driven mad by its power was using it to corrupt and take control of the karamjan spirits the natives worshipped. The expedition managed to locate and defeat the man with the help of a local shaman, after which Sihrus took the Necklace and revealed that he was, infact, Fer'Ireth. And thus it made sense he could open the Tome and sense where his artefacts were. Thanks to the recovery of the Necklace and the Tome, he could return, yet not at full power. He and Ares travelled to a temple hidden deep under present-day Varrock. Firan, before his defeat, had created a back-up plan: He had alerted the ancient enemies of Fer, an eastern family of highly skilled necromancer-hunters called the Zeiro. Sensing them nearby, Fer'Ireth chose to bring the fight to them, instead of risking his apprentice and research should they find him in the manor. So left for the eastern lands. Even as powerful as he was, he was defeated because of both the skill in fighting necromancers and the numerical advantage of the Zeiro. His spirit, however, was bound to a fallback phylactery at his old temple, and thus retreated there. With the limited power he had at the temple, he could only create a proxy, Sihrus, to fulfil his goals. His artefacts had been locked away. But even the Zeiro could not resist the temptation to use the artefacts for long. And thus, several of them were corrupted by the power, making them leave the family with their artefact. The Tome had ended up in a cave, locked away by the people who defeated its last user. The Necklace had been used by a Zeiro on Karamja. The Staff's location was unknown, but the Cloak... The Cloak was in the hands of a Black Knight Commander, who was now in a mad quest for power and was seeking more powerful relics in the desert. Fer and Ares agreed to set up a trap in one of the desert temples. In order to secure more aid, Ares went to Mephiles and told him he had a plan to kill Fer'ireth for good. That the temple contained a special sword that could completely negate Fer's spells. Mephiles believed that his friend had seen the truth, and decided to help him recover it, together with "Sihrus". As soon as they entered the temple, even before they could open "the coffin that held the sword", they were attacked by Black Knight forces. It was a harsh fight, for the Commander had many troops who were loyal to their deaths. And even after they had died, the Commander still stood, powered by the Cloak. Both Ares and Mephiles were exhausted. They were almost defeated, even. They were saved by Sihrus, who had been hiding during the entire fight, and who chose the Commander's moment of glory to backstab him, taking the Cloak. With three of the four artefacts recovered, Fer'Ireth was powerful enough to summon the fourth one: the Staff. Ares then revealed to Mephiles that he had been working with Fer all along, and once again invited Mephiles to take his rightful place at Fer's side. But he refused. And so they left him in the ruins. The Ultimate Resurrection spell completed A few weeks later, another party of mercenaries was recruited. This time, their destination was a long lost temple in the Mort Myre swamp, thought to be a place of great power. To guide them there, Fer'Ireth had gained the help of an old ally, a vampyre he had worked with before the fall of the Empire. While most had forgotten about the temple, she, fortunately, remembered it as if it was yesterday. However, getting there was not as easy as navigating through the jungle. Ghasts, feral vampires, leeches, they were some of the things the party had to fend off. Especially the vampire ambushed proved to be quite the obstacle. But when the finally reached the temple, in their way stood yet another challenge: an ancient ghast, probably as old as the temple itself, prevented entry to the temple. This one, too, had to be defeated. This trek was not purely about combat, though. Ares brought his research with him. Apart from studying the ghasts, he also tested his upgraded staff here. While the other party members, vampyre excluded, became more and more tired of the constant fighting, Ares found his staff could keep him supplied with energy from their fallen enemies. Even towards the end of the journey, he didn't feel tired at all. Once inside the temple, the party was greeted by massive, yet damaged statues. It was strange that the large halls had been abandoned so long ago, and that they weren't infested with all kinds of monsters. Looking at the walls, it was a miracle that the temple hadn't collapsed yet. The central room, the largest of them all, was not as empty. A large beam of blue magical energy stood in the middle, with inside it a ghostly being. It was a classic case of wizardly love gone wrong. The usual romantic couple that couldn't be together, resulting in a tormented spirit in a long lost temple. All love stories aside, there was yet another mad ghost in their way. First, the party tried diplomacy, yet the ghost refused to listen. It began casting spells of tremendous power, fueled by the energy pillar. Ares and the vampyre were barely able to shield the party from their destructive effects. They fled into a corridor, where the magicks (and the ghost itself, as it appeared to be bound to the energy pillar) couldn't reach them. The corridor appeared to belong to some kind of administrative section of the temple, and thus our heroes began searching the ruins for a clue on what happend here exactly. Surely that would've given them a clue to defeat the spirit. Instead, they found something else. Among the corpses of priests and mages was one corpse that was not robed, but wearing... a dress. Through chance, the corpse of the lover was still here. Ares was forced to reveal himself as a necromancer to the party, and using the corpse, managed to drag the woman's spirit back from the underworld. The enraged spirit in the pillar sensed it. And calmed down. He allowed the party to bring her to him, where the party witnessed a beautiful reunification of long lost lovers. That is, until Fer'Ireth teleported behind the two and destroyed both while the male ghost was weakened in the absence of unending rage and madness. Then began the ritual: a faster, perfected version of the very ritual that had given Ares his life. Using all the energy in the temple, Fer'Ireth fully resurrected himself while Ares shielded the area so that noone, not the party, not Mephiles, could do anything to stop the ritual. The Necrolord, now alive again, had paid a great price for this ritual though: permanent loss of his necromantic powers. Fortunately, he was also very skilled in other branches of magic, otherwise he'd been a very easy target for Mephiles. Now the energy pillar was depleted, the temple started to rumble. Soon, boulders started falling, and Fer'Ireth and Ares teleported the party away. They were rewarded royally with gold coins, yet they went home knowing they resurrected a powerful mage... Was that a good thing? The creation of an army ''Section under construction Fer'Ireth's "defeat" Section under construction Disappearance Not too long ago, a powerful surge of energy could be detected in the castle. Those who came to investigate, though, would only find an empty castle, stripped of all magical objects, machinery, books, furniture... As if noone ever lived there. The entrances to the base were opened, yet there was nothing there but an extensive network of empty tunnels and chambers. The largest, central chamber would house one large crater, as if a large circular rock that was once part of the floor was suddenly removed. Neither Ares nor his followers were ever seen again on Gielinor. Powers, abilities and resources Although he is a powerful mage and necromancer, he prefers to use deception and manipulation to avoid direct confrontations. Should it be necessary, however, Ares has many powerful spells at his command, both from Fer's Tome and from his own experiments, including but not limited to entering and leaving the Shadow Realm at will, creating barriers and shields, creating illusions and decoys, creating weaker shadow clones of himself, darkening areas, creating nightmares in targets who are asleep, along with various more offensive forms of Shadow and Blood Magic. His necromantic powers include resurrecting various types of undead of varying strengths, including the "pilots" for the Colossi, along with several support spells and abilities like taking control of enemy undead or even cutting off their supply of lifeforce, usually resulting in death on the spot. On top of that, he knows the standard elemental and ancient elemental spells, but he does not use them as often as his other, more powerful abilities. Even with this wide array of spells, he is all but immortal. Since he is still undead, most spells designed to work against them will be very effective. He also possess a large base hidden under the ruins of an old castle near Burthorpe (Landscaled Old Wizard's Tower ruins). It is in there that most of his research and undead, including the Colossus Legion, can be found. The place is will hidden and guarded with several layers of magical traps and detection spells. In the center of the base stands the Obelisk, one of the few real objects of power Ares has created. It is both a magnet for and a storage of lifeforce, as it draws in and store lifeforce from anything that dies in the vicinity of the castle and is able to store it. Another powerful object Ares owns would be his spear-tipped staff. Enchanted using a spell based on the ancient knowledge of Fer'Ireth, it allows the wielder to slowly drain lifeforce of a living creature, provided the wielder manages to stab his opponent. The draining is not that fast, however, and is merely intended as a way of weakening an opponent further while recovering a bit. After further upgrading, this weapon became capable of draining and storing many kinds of magical energy, not just lifeforce. He's also known to have his own lodestone network, although its exact functions and destinations remain unknown to even his closest allies. Personality, Philosophy and goals Ares is pretty much the embodiment of "The end justifies the means." While is intentions may be good (Or so believes he), his methods may range from unorthodox to "plain evil". The prime example here would be his usage of undead and lifeforce, which is seen by most people as an unholy and inherently evil act. Ares merely sees it as a means to an end. Besides, noone has use for lifeforce after their demise, right? And the bodies would just rot away too. Furthermore, he is very specific in his use of the dead. He only ever resurrects ghosts and spirits, as it means he does not have to defile graves. Furthermore, he will always give his newly-resurrected undead a choice: to serve him and his ideals in a second life, or to pass on to the afterlife. This leaves him with fewer, but more loyal followers than most necromancers of his level of power would have. Ares will also decieve and bribe people without second thoughts if it means he can accomplish his goals, although he's rather hesitant about using violence to force people to do something. Still, should the need arise, he will do it, although he will regret it. He does not act on behalf of a master or higher power anymore. The only authority he truly obeys now would be his own, although he'll listen to the advice of his closest allies, like his former master Fer'Ireth. His current goals are as follows: * Keep an eye on Mephiles Sol and prepare for eventual attacks. He believes Mephiles has lost his mind and is a danger to Gielinor. No longer relevant to him. * Secure the False Artefacts Mephiles has created, so they may be destroyed for good. They, too, are too dangerous to exist. No longer relevant to him. * Gather more knowledge of all kinds of magic and technology. Knowledge is power. Power will lead towards victory. Victory will lead to freedom for all. Relations Fer'Ireth My former master, to whom I owe my life. After aiding you in your effort to resurrect yourself and after making you "vanish" from Gielinor, I suppose my debt is paid. Yet I shall always remain your friend and your ally. Mephiles Sol How you've fallen, my friend, is most regrettable. We've travelled a lot, worked together to achieve great things and went through a lot of trouble together. Bonds forged by fire. But it seems your madness is irreversible. Thus, the only cure I see is death. For the good of this world, it has to be done. His dellusions are becoming to dangerous. Yet with his newfound power and his legions of followers, I can't take him alone. I, too, need an army. And I know just how to do that. Mars Intempium My twin brother. In live we were the best together, even more so than Mephiles and I were in death. We've always been polar opposite: You've been succesful in life, I've been succesful in death. I should visit him again, although he should be quite old by now. '' ''He's dead. I didn't even know it. Then again, how could I? Noone around him even knew I wasn't dead. That makes two lost persons who were dear to me. Zaros I used to be extremely loyal to Zaros. Now, I consider myself less of a zealot, but he is still my preferred god. His ideals are the closest to mine, and he seems to want the best for Gielinor. In how far this is true, only time will tell. That being said, in the end, all gods should be destroyed. I will make no exceptions. The Enclave A relic from the past. While its members are without a doubt some of the most powerful beings alive, united in this organization, they are useless without a powerful leader to guide them. Instead, they've resorted to some voting and veto-ing system. The result is that almost nothing ever happens. Without Zaros to lead them, it's a nostalgia club for those who lived in the Empire. The Mephiles Paradigm Misguided fools. They have no idea how mad their "god" is. They have no idea what they're causing. When I deal with Mephiles, these zealots will be dealt with too. '' Images ''Section under construction Trivia * This character is mostly used in private RP plots and/or as antagonist. If used in public RP, it is '''always scaled to the level of the other characters unless this is not necessary. (Bossfights with him as the boss, for example.) Playing an OP character in public RP without other people's consent is lame and shall not happen on my watch. * Ares has no symbol to represent himself or his followers, as he thinks they only make it easier to be found, identified, and destroyed. * His name is Ares because I wasn't really good with names at the time, and Greek mythology is awesome. * The "Ares mark" in the box below wasn't added by me and should be ignored. Category:Humans Category:Ancient Magic user Category:Varrockian Category:Characters Category:Undead Category:Necromancers Category:Immortues Category:Chaotic Category:Neutral